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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Mooring anchor

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Turk
Admiral

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USA
736 Posts

Initially Posted - 06/25/2005 : 10:02:13

I have my c250 moored at our local inland lake. After purchasing her and realizing that her weight is far greater than my previous 22, I knew I would need more mooring weight. I added an additional 5 ft. railroad rail to the mix at the end of the mooring chain. Well, it's now moving. I have a total of 400 lb. of railroad rail at the end of the chain and it is not enough for our occational 40-50 mph wind. After doing some research, I am finding that weight alone is not the major factor in holding to the bottom. Dor-mor makes a pyramid anchor that has ten times the holding power of their dry weight. The cost is quite high though.

My question is should I bite the bullet and purchase one of thier anchors , and if so, what size? A 200 lb. pyramid, if their spin is true, would be the equivalent of a 2000 lb weight. I've looked at mushroom anchors also.

I would like to take the whole thing out of the water and run it over to a fab shop and weld something up. But what would you build??

Any thoughts would be appreciated. I need to do something before the next storm or I could end up on the rocks.

I have one of the larger boats at the marina and am exposed to the outer mooring feild. The other 25-26 footers are more protected and closer to shore.

Turk

Turk

www.turk.mysailboatblog.com
2003 C250 WK #663
Northeast Ohio
Mosquito Lake/Lake Erie

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Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1893 Posts

Response Posted - 06/25/2005 : 11:23:04

Turk,

Having almost no personal experience with moorings, here's my clueless opinion. I think the best mooring holding/weight ratio (leaving aside actual anchors) is a mushroom. However, like anchors, high holding ratio moorings rely on a deep set. I've read that mushrooms need a lot of time to settle in. The technique I recall is to tie a small boat to the mushroom to gently rock and tug on it to work it down into the bottom before expecting maximum holding power.

If you can't wait that long, you might consider a temporary mooring made of 3 anchors, chain, and an oversized swivel. However, that could get expensive.

Another possibility would be a screw anchor mooring, very similar to those used to anchor the guy wires of power poles into the ground. I have no idea what one would use as a "screwdriver".

-- Leon Sisson

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ronrryan
Admiral

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USA
561 Posts

Response Posted - 06/25/2005 : 11:45:37

Turk, right you are that weight alone isn't the only factor in holding. BUT if you can get enough weight down, eventually you get something that cant move much. In Maine they used to use large pieces of granite, but when I say large, I mean half ton and up, sometimes way up. Also much depends on the consistency of the bottom. In certain harbors on Long Island sound, the mud/muck at the bottom is so deep that 500 lb mushrooms disappear rather quickly, and then are wonderful, hard to budge. In Florida, by contrast, we use flat squares of concrete/rebar at the bottom, often in large sizes, bacause the sand cover over the limestone underbase is shallow and doesnt let the mushroom type dig in--in fact when used, the stalk sticks up and can go through the bottom of a boat in shoal areas! If you can get enough rail down, welded together in such a way as to inhibit dragging, you might be OK. If you have access to a used/recycled marine place where you can buy old LARGE danforths cheap, shacling three together in a three way chain layout, as Leon suggests, is a good idea, but you have to be prepared to periodically
maintain/inspect the chain/shackles etc. Good luck, ron srsk Orion SW FL

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At Ease
Admiral

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672 Posts

Response Posted - 06/25/2005 : 14:25:55

As noted above, the type of bottom is the key ingredient to a good holding mooring. I used to moor in a shallow saltwater bay and used a rather small piece of concrete, about the size of a case of beer. By the end of the summer I needed a shovel to dig the concrete out due to the constantly shifting sands and muck that literally buried the mooring. Needless to say, the boat did not budge.

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Turk
Admiral

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USA
736 Posts

Response Posted - 06/25/2005 : 18:21:47

After inspecting and moving the mooring back to the proper location today, one of the guys suggested adding about 6 ft of chain to the exhisting mooring line. That would bring it up to about 28 ft in 9 feet of water. A ration of 3/1. I will try this first before radically pulling and welding together another config for the weight.

Anyone experienced at all with the Dor-mor pyramids?

Turk

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DrDre
1st Mate

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USA
68 Posts

Response Posted - 06/26/2005 : 06:48:41

Turk,
I've never even heard of a Dor-Mor Pyramid. Sounds like a ponzi scheme! Post some details, I'm really curious. (Well, not that curious)

Anyway, I keep my 250 WK on a 300lb mushroom with about 45 feet of heavy duty chain with a swivel (plus a 10 foot bridle line) in 12- 15 feet of water on Long Island Sound. I've weathered Nor'easters, gales, and big chop all without moving an inch. (so far!)

As far as my two cents I think having a longer chain/rode is key in all anchoring and mooring situations. If you get into a crazy mix of anchors, I-Beams, kitchen sinks and what-not you're going to eventually have to bring all that mess up to check the integrity. Why not simplify and get the weight and one that's most durable for your conditions and also one that you can haul and check every year or so? For me I found that a mushroom is the easiest to use and haul but maybe that might not work for your situation.

Just a thought.

Andre'

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DrDre
1st Mate

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USA
68 Posts

Response Posted - 06/26/2005 : 06:52:54

Duh. Just looked up Dor-Mor and realized what it is.

Go with the mushroom.

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Turk
Admiral

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USA
736 Posts

Response Posted - 06/27/2005 : 06:59:32

The mushroom anchor is pretty much standard for our marina situation. Something needs to be at the end of the weight to allow it to bury itself into the muck. Yesterday I added 6 more feet to the chain to see if that helps for now. I'm sure it will help, but stopping the movement, well, we'll see. I just need to get through the season.

Your 45 ft of chain I'm sure is a big factor in keeping the weight stable and in place. We do not have the luxury of that much swing room in our bay although, being on the end of a row, I might convince them that I need it.

Next year a mushroom type anchor will be the thing. I will fabricate it with one of my railroad rails and whatever I can find to add to the end.

The Dor-mors are probably even better than the mushrooms from what I read. The coast guard is using them exclusively now. They are the most expensive - figures.

Turk

Edited by - Turk on 06/27/2005 07:00:48

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